Guelph Nighthawks advance to quarterfinals with 90-85 win over Fraser Valley

A killer step back from Cat Barber gave the Guelph Nighthawks a 90-85 road win over the Fraser Valley Bandits at a packed Langley Events Centre in Thursday’s play-in game.

“We’ve learned to win this year,” Guelph head coach Charles Kissi said. “You gotta lose sometimes in order to learn how to win.”

With the play-in win over the four-seeded Fraser Valley, the Nighthawks advance to the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) quarterfinals in a matchup with the second place Niagara River Lions at the Meridian Centre at 7:00 p.m ET on Saturday. The second quarterfinal will be a matchup between the Scarborough Shooting Stars and Saskatchewan Rattlers on Sunday at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. 

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Barber said. “Every team in this league is tough.”

The dynamic duo of Ahmed Hill and Cat Barber led the Nighthawks to victory. Hill scored a game-high 27 points on 9-16 shooting from the field and 6-8 from three. Barber scored 25 points on 10-18 shooting from the field and 3-4 from three, including 7 points in Elam time and the game-winning three. Giorgi Bezhanishvili put up a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double in the win for Guelph

“[Hill and Barber] remembered what it felt like to get eliminated here last year,” Kissi said. “They came in wanting to lead. That was the conversation we had before the game with those two guys.”

Brandon Gilbeck scored a team-high 21 points, hauled in 6 rebounds and rejected 3 shots for Fraser Valley in the absence of fellow big man Thomas Kennedy. Shane Gibson and Maxie Esho each netted 16 points for the Bandits in the loss, while Marek Klassen contributed 15 points and a game-high 10 assists.

“This came down to our offensive execution, in particular against their zone,” Fraser Valley head coach Mike Taylor said. “We were not as productive as we needed to be.”

The first quarter saw the Nighthawks and Bandits trade blows with five ties and seven lead changes. Neither team led by more than four points. Ahmed Hill was on fire to start the game and netted 10 first quarter points off of a pair of threes, a transition layup, and a backdoor finish. Shane Gibson hit a fading catch-and-shoot three from the corner to put Fraser Valley ahead by two late, but Cat Barber hit a mid-range jumper off the dribble to tie the game at 25 after ten minutes. The teams struggled to draw fouls in the opening frame, with Barber shooting the only two free throws of the quarter for either team. 

Sean Miller-Moore skied for a highlight reel transition jam to begin the second quarter and the Nighthawks opened with a 7-0 run. The Bandits went the opening three and a half minutes scoreless and took an early timeout. Hill continued to ball out with a trio of deep threes to lead all scorers at half with 19 points on 7-10 shooting from the field and 5-6 from beyond the arc. Barber added 12 first half points for Guelph, with no Fraser Valley player reaching double figures at halftime. The duo of Barber and Hill helped the Nighthawks hold on to the lead throughout the second quarter and took a 50-36 lead into the locker room. 

The Bandits shot just two free throws in the first half and shot just 37 per cent from the field. Meanwhile, the Nighthawks were on fire from three in the opening 20 minutes, largely thanks to Hill’s efforts. Guelph entered the third quarter shooting 51 per cent from the field and 64 per cent from three, hitting nine from beyond the arc. 

Hill opened the third quarter scoring with a reverse layup off of a backdoor cut to hit the 20-point mark and extend the Nighthawks’ lead. The Bandits struggled to get good looks early in the quarter and a Barber layup gave Guelph a 62-42 lead, their largest of the night. From there, the Bandits got back into the game with a 14-0 run, powered by threes from Malcolm Duvivier, Shane Gibson and Brandon Gilbeck, along with an and-one floater from Marek Klassen. Hill queited the crowd with an off-dribble three, but Gilbeck and Alex Campbell answered with triples for Fraser Valley. Miller-Moore slammed an alley-oop jam from Hill to close the quarter with the Nighthawks securing a 69-62 lead going into the final frame. Gilbeck scored 10 third quarter points to help the Bandits back into the game. 

Maxie Esho and Giorgi Bezhanishvili each scored four points apiece to start the fourth quarter, before the Bandits made it a two-point game following a fake and shoot three from Alex Campbell that forced a Charles Kissi timeout.  Stef Smith buried a catch-and-shoot three before the four minute mark to give Guelph an 80-76 lead heading into the Elam Ending with a target score of 89. 

Cat Barber sliced through the defence for a reverse layup to open the scoring, but Shane Gibson promptly answered with a wing triple. Barber stayed hot with an elbow jumper to give Guelph an 84-79 lead. Klassen hit a pair of free throws for Fraser Valley, but a putback from Miller-Moore put the Nighthawks a three away from victory. Hill hit a free throw to put Guelph just a bucket away from a play-in win, ahead 87-81. Gilbeck hit a pair on the other end, and Kissi called a timeout to draw up a play. On the ensuing possession with the ball advanced, Fraser Valley got a much-needed stop with a shot clock violation. Gilbeck finished another layup for the Bandits on a feed from Gibson, but Cat Barber left Gibson behind with a spectacular stepback three to end the game. 

Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S. As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change. 

The CEBL’s fourth regular season began May 25 and ends August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.